All The Little Things
by LilianBlake
Summary: Owen's annoyed, Jack's angry, Ianto is missing and it's all Gwens fault. Jack/Ianto, and TW team.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** All The Little Things  
**Rating:** R- Just to be safe  
**Characters/Pairings:** Jack/Ianto, TW Team  
**Summary:** Gwen touches things she's not supposed to and Ianto pays the price.  
**Disclaimer:** Characters and setting belong to RTD and the BBC.

"We have to do something!" Gwen screamed while looking at the CCTV.

"What do you mean 'we'?" Owen quipped back at her. "'We' didn't do anything wrong. 'You' decided to touch things you weren't aloud to touch."

"It was just lying out on top of the shelf! How was I supposed to know it was going to do that?!" She exclaimed leaning closer to the monitors continuing her search.

Owen walked up behind her and whispered "Gwen, where was the shelf, luv?"

"It was in the archives." She looked over her shoulder at him.

"Ok now let's think about this, what is Ianto's number one rule he has for you when you go down into the archives?"

She muttered something under her breath while looking back at the monitors.

"I'm sorry sweetheart, I didn't hear that." He poked her on.

"I'm not supposed to touch anything! OK. That's the bloody rule!" She screamed back but had the decency to stare at the monitors then lower her hear. She already knew she messed up she didn't need him to remind her of it.

"Yes that is one of Ianto's sacred rules." She heard Jack say as he walked up to them from behind. "Is there a reason why were screaming Ianto's rules. What kind of trouble you kids gotten into? Huh?" He asked. "No wait. Don't tell me. You broke Ianto's rule now he's angry and brooding. 'Cause if that's the case then fix it and leave the brooding Welshman to me. I can put a smile back on his face." Jack leered. "Where is he anyway?"

"First of all that's disgusting and second that's the problem. She lost him." Owen answered pointing at Gwen.

"Exactly what do you mean by LOST!" His voice escalated into a shout.

"He's not lost! I know he's still in the hub!" Gwen replied still looking through the different CCTV screens.

"What exactly happened?" He yelled back.


	2. Chapter 2

2 hours earlier……

Ianto dusted off his knees as he began to rise from the ground. He was exhausted, cranky and even a little hungry. They had received boxes upon boxes of files and artifacts from Torchwood Two after their archives flooded. That is if you could call the dirty basement of an old decrepit house a proper archive. What was salvaged was sent to him to now sort with the added bonus of the files being completely unorganized. Looking like random files picked up and shoved into random boxes.

'Not like I was done with Jacks mess. Now I have to fix Torchwood Two's mess as well. Unit is probably next. I should a queue made for them to get in line.' He thought. "Torchwood Four better not appear out of thin air and demand an archivist." He said out loud as he shoved another box on top of his desk to sort out.

Since taking over the Torchwood Three's archives he had made himself a little corner workplace. Nothing special, just a decent sized desk and a small lamp he set on the corner of it. Oh, and a high back leather chair he requisitioned for himself. If he was going to slave over Jack's mess, he decided he could indulge and have Torchwood pay for the extravagance. Not that anyone would notice really, after all he was the one who processed and authorized all requisition forms and no one was really aloud to come this far down here without him as a guide. That rule was established after a certain nosy member of the team got lost for five hours. Curiosity is nosiness, no matter what Jack says.

Now his little home away from home, well who was he kidding he rarely went home, was now inundated with files and artifacts dating back to the 70's. Apparently and thankfully for him, Torchwood Two had not been around for that long. Ianto sighed and continued on with the next box.

It was engrossed in files that Gwen found Ianto sitting at his small desk. He looked thoroughly stressed out and she really didn't want to interrupt him. However she had now been wondering around for an hour completely lost and was not about to ask Owen for help. Couldn't someone have just put signs on the wall, like 'This Way to the Main Floor'? Well, maybe that wasn't very practical in the case of invasion. The place was probably designed to get the enemy disoriented and keep employees from ever leaving.


	3. Chapter 3

…

….

She had been watching him now for 20 minutes, taking cover behind the dusty Torchwood Two boxes, undecided on whether asking for help or not. Ianto was still deeply concentrating on what looked like an alien toaster to her. Then again everything looked like a kitchen utensil to her. Everything just looked so foreign. She hated cooking and it may or may not have something to do with the fact that Rhys refused to let her in the kitchen after her last attempt at pancakes resulted in batter on the ceiling. That mixer didn't like her and was possessed by something, and now that she knew about aliens she was sure it was of alien origin.

She was so caught up in her own train of thought she began to lean against some of the boxes next to her resulting on every last one toppling over onto the floor. The contents littered the ground with files and artifacts.

At the crashing sound Ianto jumped and let out a rather undignified if not a bit girly shriek. Not that he would ever admit to such a thing. He ran towards the commotion afraid of what could have possibly caused it, coming to an abrupt halt to find Gwen on the ground attempting to shove everything back into whatever box was closest.

"Stop that! You're making it worse!" He yelled at her, then looked around at what he was sure was an additional 4 hrs of work now. 'I'm never going home' he thought.

"I was just trying to help!"

"Stop helping. Please." He huffed. "What are you doing down here? You shouldn't be down here without an escort. Do I have to remind you of why that rule was established in the first place?"

"You know you wouldn't need that rule if you marked the corridors to tell people where they are!" She said as she continued to gather alien devices into a pile.

Ianto smirked and gave her the 'you really are an idiot look' he usually reserved for Owen. "What do you think the numbers on the end of each hallway are? How about the numbers and letters on each door? Have you read the Torchwood manual or are you still using it as a coaster, following Jack's example."

"I read it!" She snapped grabbing what looked like an alien hairdryer and getting up from the floor.

"If you had read it then you would know the layout wouldn't you? It's all well detailed on the last 20 pages."

"Is that what those numbers in the back were for? I thought it was the index. I asked Owen he said I was right!"

"You asked Owen?" He raised his eyebrow at her. 'Now I know you're an idiot' he thought to himself.

Gwen knew that look. She had seen it directed at Owen enough times to know he thought she was an idiot for asking the biggest self proclaimed twat in Torchwood, maybe all of Cardiff and even Wales. The anger began to build and she gripped the 'hairdryer'.

"Serves me right for listening to that child" She waved her arms around exasperated. Then froze when the 'hairdryer' began to vibrate and heat up in her palm. "Ianto… I think it's doing something…" She looked up to find a pile of clothes "Ianto?!"


	4. Chapter 4

….

"Ianto…" Gwen gasped as she recognized his pristine suit crumpled on the floor. She slowly walked up to it "Ianto?" Then walked circles around the entire area somehow managing to get lost again. "Shit... Ianto!! Where are you? I'm sorry!" She yelled down each corridor she passed. 'He's going to kill me! Jack is going to kill me!' she thought. 'Well at least now all have his attention all on me' she stopped as the daft thought entered her head.

"Where are you PC Cooper?!" yelled Owen into her ear piece. She jumped and realized she had stopped searching.

Gwen knew she had to get help getting out of the Archives and continue her search on CCTV. Better to look from the safety of her desk than walking around lost for hours, again. "I'm lost in the archives Owen. Can you guide me back?"

"Where's the tea boy? Can't he point you in the wrong, I mean right direction." He smirked as he watched her enter a main corridor on CCTV.

"No he can't, he's gone. He was with me one minute then the next he was just gone!" She responded, her voice beginning to panic.

Owen guided her back to the main area of the hub. He was waiting for her, arms crossed when she emerged from the stairs.

"So by gone, you mean…." He started, looking at her expectantly.

"I mean gone Owen! He was standing right in front of me and then he was just gone. His clothes were on the floor but he was no where!"

"Alright…and what's that you're holding? Could it have anything to do with you loosing him?" He pointed at the object clutched in her hand.

Gwen realized what she was holding and dropped the 'hairdryer' immediately on the floor. She began to walk away from it.

"Relax Gwen; I'm sure the damage it was supposed to cause is already done. Case in point: missing tea boy. Oh and try not to break what could possibly help us figure out what happened."

"We have to find him Owen!" She ran to the computer monitors and began her search.

"We have to do something!" Gwen screamed while looking at the CCTV.


	5. Chapter 5

"Owen you keep searching the CCTV and do a heat scan on all the levels of the hub

"Owen you keep searching the CCTV and do a heat scan on all the levels of the hub." Ordered Jack through gritted teeth. "Where's Tosh?!"

Owen looked around only then realizing the team was indeed missing his favorite techie. He then tried to recall her words before she had left. "She said she was going to take a long lunch earlier."

"Well get her back here and get her started on figuring out what that thing did with Ianto!" He turned and stalked towards the archives yelling at Gwen over his shoulder. "Gwen, you're with me. Show me where he disappeared. I need you to tell me exactly what happened!"

"I'm sorry Jack. I'm not really sure how to get back there. I was lost when I found him." She told him as she trailed him from behind. "He was sitting at a small desk, going through some old looking files."

"Was he by any chance sitting on a rather expensive looking leather chair?" The corner of his mouth twitched allowing a brief smirk on his face. Ianto had been exceptionally tired one night after a weevil hunt and had gone home for some badly needed sleep. Without the Welshman to give him something or rather someone to do, he spent the majority of the night checking out everyone's browsing history just for the fun of it. He always seemed to discover new things about each member of his team when he did that, like Owens obsession with You Tube and Chuck Norris. Ianto's browsing history had been wiped and that only made him curious to dig. He found all the deleted history but there was nothing out of the ordinary; that was until he went back a few months and saw a lot of searches on high back leather chairs. Eventually he found the requisition slip that was signed and approved and the delivery slip through quite a bit of digging. With nothing else to do he set about finding said chair and came upon Ianto's little corner. He was planning on breaking in that chair and reprimanding him in the most enjoyable way possible but hadn't quite gotten around to it yet.

"Jack... Jack! Do you know where you're going?"

"We are headed to Ianto's little hidden corner which he thinks no one knows about. I didn't hear you answer my question."

"Oh I don't know I wasn't looking at the chair, but he was sitting at a desk."

"That's what I thought." After ten minutes Jack came to a sudden stop in front of the mess that had been caused earlier. "What happened?"

Gwen went into a short explanation of the events that led to the current situation with a bit of twisting to keep as much blame off of her as possible.

"Now when you say the artifact was on the shelf, I have to ask were the shelves on the floor?" He asked incredulously. "Tell me the truth Gwen! I find it hard to believe an alien device would go off on its own while sitting on a shelf." He then stood looking down at Ianto's abandoned clothes. There was now a naked Welshman missing and he was really starting to get pissed off. If Ianto was going to be naked he had to be in Jack's bed.


	6. Chapter 6

...

It was warm. All around him it was warm and he felt equally covered and exposed. His eyes ached and burned when he attempted to open them. The bright, white light was just too much for him to handle. After a few moments he slowly opened them again and allowed himself to adjust to the brightness. When he could finally see straight all that was there was the clear blue sky. Not a single cloud over head. 'Where am I?' Ianto thought to himself. Something was prickling his shoulder and he made to get up. He was sitting in the grass of an open clearing in what looked like a park. Off in the distance past the scattered trees he could see a pond and people going about enjoying their day out. There was a little girl throwing bread at the ducks while still holding her mothers hand, and a pair of older gentle men with their lines cast looking to get some fish. Sitting up Ianto began to recognize the park. It was one he had come to many times as a child. Back before his life had taken a dramatic turn and his father would close the shop on Sundays first thing in the morning to bring him fishing.

"Wha' am I doinn here?" He whispered to himself, his high voice and lisp shocking him then looking down "… a' why am I nak'd!" He jumped up as quickly as he could; intent on hiding behind the closest tree, but failing miserably. His body not cooperating with him, he felt awkward and small. Looking down it was then that he realized that not only was he naked but if the lack of body hair, chubby fingers and smaller bits of himself were anything to go by then there was something horribly wrong with him. 'No, no, no, no... NO!'

The last thing he could recall he was in the archives going over file after file from Torchwood Two. Then Gwen had toppled over some of the boxes and starting going on and on about something. 'She did this!' He thought darkly 'and she probably did it on purpose.' He just couldn't help thinking that Gwen just didn't like him. Her hero worship for Jack was evident and it wouldn't surprise him if she confused it for love, but she had a boyfriend for crying out loud. Owen had already gotten into her pants, was she expecting for Jack to do the same as well? Even after everything that had happened with Lisa it had only served to bring him and Jack closer and make each other open up more. Maybe that was the problem; that even with the biggest skeleton in the closet Jack still chose him over pursuing anything with her. He knew that Jack cared for her, but it was his arms that Jack found comfort in. For all his bravado, deep into the hours of the night when Jack thought he was asleep he whispered words of love and devotion.

A cold hand grasped his shoulder bringing him out of his thoughts and making him jump and squeal in surprise.

"Hello, little one. Did you run away from your mam?"


	7. Chapter 7

…

…

'I really need to change banks' she thought. Tosh had finally made all the necessary changes to her account, allowing it to allocate a percentage to her mother's retirement fund each month. She could have easily done it all her laptop, but making the trip across town gave her a chance to get away from the hub for a while and stop for lunch at her favorite park. It was there that she now found herself looking for the perfect spot to settle down on for the remainder of her long lunch. She sat peacefully enjoying the last of her a_npan_, and throwing her extra bits at the ducks that had waddled her way from the pond.

At the loud squeal from nearby Tosh looked up to see a young woman kneeling in front of what looked like a very scared toddler, no more than 3 by her estimations. The child was gorgeous with his untamed hair, button nose and blue eyes that seemed eerily familiar. He was completely naked and in the verge of tears. The woman lifted the child up and walked away with him heavily wailing and protesting in her arms. 'Poor kid,' she thought. He was clearly going through a naked phase like most kids around his age, he would grow out of it, or not if Jack was anything to go by.

The ringing in her purse brought her out of her train of thought. She saw it was Owen and took a deep breath before answering. He always made her nervous, even on the telephone.

"Hello, Owen" she answered.

"Tosh, we need you back in the Hub immediately!"

"Why? What's wrong?" It wasn't like Owen to sound worried over rift activity.

"It's Ianto, he's gone missing and we need your help to locate him."

She let out the breath she didn't realize she was holding, jumped up and ran towards her car. "Owen, tell me exactly what happened!"


	8. Chapter 8

…

"Jack, it was an accident I swear!" Gwen wailed again.

"I don't care if it was an accident! You know better than to go wondering alone in the archives and you were under strict instructions not to touch any alien tech you did not know the function of. Now your carelessness has caused us to loose Ianto! We don't know what that thing did to him! For all we know he could be laying bleeding to death on another planet!" Jack seethed with anger. He couldn't look at her anymore; he picked up Ianto's clothes and made to leave the archives. Gwen followed him at a distance.

"No. You stay here. I don't want to see your face again until this mess is sorted out. I want to see every file picked up and sorted, ready to be put away for when Ianto returns. Don't touch any other alien device." He didn't even want to consider him not returning. God help her if he didn't, he would retcon her back to infancy.

He made his way back to from the archives, leaving Gwen to sort out the mess she had created. Once a safe distance away he paused and looked at the discarded clothes in his hands. Bringing them up slowly and holding them like they were the most precious things in the world he buried his face in them. Ianto's favorite cologne still clung to the material, along with Ianto's unique scent and the faint smell of coffee. He let go of the sob he had been holding before containing himself once more. The look of determination firmly planted on his face. He was going to find him no matter what it took and when he did he would tell him all those things he had been afraid to say.

"Owen!" He barked into his comm. "Any word from Tosh?"

"Yes, she's on her way. She'll be here in five." Owen responded. Just as he was going to add to that Jack emerged from the corridor leading towards the archives and headed straight for him.

"How's the scan going?" Jack asked, while inspecting the monitors by Owens head.

"The system hasn't found anything so far Jack. The only life signs it has located aside from Myfanwy and our alien tenants are the three of us."

The perimeter alarm then went off as the cog wheel opened and Tosh ran straight to her station. She was just as determined as Jack to find her best friend.


	9. Chapter 9

….

"Find anything Tosh?" Jack asked as he hovered behind her.

"According to the energy scan it definitely teleported him." She answered Jack, his proximity only adding to her anxiety. "I just received a message from Torchwood Two saying 70 percent of the devices they sent us are from an Argolin ship that crash landed in the 1980's."

"Did you say Argolin? I know that species! They are from Argolis, that was one of the first pleasure planets in the 23rd century!" Jack's eyes lit up. "I've heard great things about that place, always wanted to go."

"Pleasure planet? Figures tea boy would get sent there. Some people have all the luck!" Owen said, slouching further into his chair.

"He better not be there! Not without me damn it!" Yelled a wide eyed, slightly, alright well extremely jealous, Jack.

"If you two are done envying Ianto, could one of you head down to the archives and pull any files we have on the Argolin. I'm doing a search through the main frame database now." Pleasure planet or not she wanted to find Ianto as soon as possible.

Owen shot out of his chair and headed to the archives. "I'm on it!" He yelled back.

"Jack, Torchwood Two would never really hand over any alien device unless it was useless or benign. I have a feeling he's still on earth."

Jack walked over to the device and inspected it carefully. "I hope your right Tosh. I don't think this thing could possess enough power to teleport long distance."

_Bing. Bing._

"What's that?"

"I had mainframe analyze the energy that the device had emitted and cross reference it with any energy spikes in a 50 kilometer radius." Tosh responded; preoccupied with the readings she was getting. "According to the scan there was a similar energy spike about 20 kilometers from here, around the same time Ianto disappeared! That has to be him!"

"If that was him he should have found a way to communicate with us already." He picked up his coat and headed for the lift. "Let's go Tosh. Owen!" He barked into his comm. "We may have located him! Get your skinny butt to the SUV."

"Excuse me; I happen to have fit, firm arse. Not skinny!" Owen responded as he ran back up to the main floor. Dropping the files he had found and grabbing his med kit. As much as he and Ianto may give each other a hard time he would never want him to get hurt. He was like his annoying little brother and he was not going to be taking any chances.


	10. Chapter 10

….

….

….

His voice was absolutely raw from crying and his hiccups would not go away. He found it harder and harder to control the urge to suck on his thumb until he finally just gave into it. It was oddly comforting now that he had been doing it for a while. The woman had assumed he was a lost child and had carried him around the park looking for his would be parents. Trying to soothe him with kind words from time to time but completely ignoring his cries to be left alone. She continued her search until she spotted a PC and handed him over. "Your going to be ok little guy. I promise" she cooed at him before leaving. He rewarded her with an angry glare that looked more like a pout on the toddler.

"Don't worry miss we'll take good care of him." The PC told her while taking the child from her hands. He took her name and statement, all a bit hindered by the boy now clinging to his neck.

She looked at his name badge and smiled. She wanted to remember who she dropped him off with so she could ask about him later. "Thank you PC Davidson. If you don't mind I would like to call later to see if you found his parents."

"Sure, just call the station." He answered back. This day was just getting better and better, he thought sarcastically. First he was sent to the park to chase down unruly teenagers and now he was stuck baby sitting until he could hand the kid over to child services. At least the kid had stopped crying and seemed to be dozing off on his shoulder.

The woman walked away looking back a few times to make sure that the little boy was still ok; which only served to annoy him. He didn't feel like babysitting but he was an experienced uncle and knew how to take care of kids. Looking at the child's current state of undress he went to the car boot. He always kept a spare shirt there because 'you just never know when you'll need it' his old partner had always told him. He really missed her at times. Walking to the passenger seat he sat the toddler down and pulled the shirt over his head. The child was practically swimming in it but at least he was now covered.

Ianto felt something put over his head which served to bring him out of his tantrum induced sleep. Enjoying the new comforting warmth he felt around him he carefully opened his tired eyes. He never thought crying could take so much out of him. It must be the age, cry your eyes out then pass out was normal for babies. But he didn't want to be a baby, at that thought he shot his eyes wide open. He couldn't believe his luck. "Andy?"


	11. Chapter 11

….

**A/N: I've been sick all week, during which this chapter was produced. I blame it on the fever.**

….

Andy jumped at the sound of his name. "Hey! You're awake. Can you tell me your name? Do you know me?"

"Is me, Anto! Anto Jones! I'm fom Tochwoo!" squealed Ianto, getting frustrated over his inability to say his name properly. He was rapidly loosing the battle to control all his child emotions. Keeping a neutral expression and controlling his emotions had taken a lot of work when he was growing up. Now all his control was out the window, lost to him along with his suit, and he really liked that suit.

"Did you say touchwoo? What's touchwoo?" It had been a while since Andy had dealt with a toddler. He was trying hard to recall the translation skills he had developed with his nephew.

Ianto was getting frustrated and Andy now looked spaced out starring at him. He rolled his eyes and slapped him as hard as his little hand could. "I say Tochwoo! Wiff Gwen Coopa!"

"Ouch! Did you say Gwen? Torchwood!" Ianto waited patiently as Andy put the two together. "Wait so you're Aan…Ianto! Ianto Jones! What's happened to you mate?" Looking at the child in front of him he could now see the resemblance. He had worked a handful of times helping him by keeping people out of the way when he would come to collect evidence or do a 'clean up' as he called it from one of their _spooky dos_.

"Yep! Thas me! I need you help!" Ianto was glad he had broken protocol and not retconned Andy after every clean up he had helped him with. It had always helped make his job easier when Andy was around, that and they both loved rugby so he could always catch up on his favorite team with him. "I don no wha happen." He began to get weepy again.

Andy saw his distress and immediately reached out to cuddle him. Only with bloody Torchwood would he have to cuddle a grown man trapped in a toddler's body. "Let me call Gwen. She'll know what to do." He reached into his pocket in search of his cell phone.

"NO! She do dis to me!" screamed Ianto.

"Alright, it's ok Ianto. Calm down mate, I won't call her. What do you want me to do?"

"Take me home." He sniffed into Andy's jacket.

"Shouldn't I be getting you back to Torchwood? Don't you want me to call that captain of yours and tell him you're safe?" Andy didn't understand why Gwen would have done this to him, or how and he had worked enough with Torchwood to know it was pointless asking. It was probably an accident but he didn't want to say it and risk getting slapped again. He might only be a toddler but he had a very heavy hand. He could only imagine the kind of right hook Ianto could throw as an adult.

The more Ianto thought about it the less he wanted to get back to the hub. He was sick and tired of being taken for granted and maybe this would make them open their eyes. Jack in particular could do with missing him for a couple of hours. Maybe Andy could understand that. What it was like to do the grunt work and not even get a thanks for your effort.

"No yet. Can I stay wif you fo a bit? I don wanna go back yet. Jus a few hours pease?!" he asked, crossing his finger hoping that he would agree.

Andy could just not resist those big baby blues looking up at him like that. "Are you sure you want to do that? If you're missing they're going to be worried about you." Ianto smiled at him and he understood. "I see. You want to make them sweat a bit huh? I can understand that mate. Well my shift is almost over; let me drop you off at my flat so I can go back to the station and finish my shift. Think you'll want to go back by then?"

He nodded quickly "Yep. Andy? ... I'm hungy."

"Of course you are." Rolling his eyes he picked him up and buckled him into the back seat. He dropped him off at his flat and sat him down in front of his television with a plate full of biscuits, a glass of milk and the remote control. "Don't get into trouble while I'm gone. Better yet just don't move from there." He walked out and headed back to the station.

When Andy returned he walked into his living space to find the toddler in a fit of giggles in front of the loud television. He was watching The Graham Norton Show, something that he was sure was not meant for a toddler. "What do you think you're watching? That's not meant for you!"

"Oi! I'm twenysicks!" He gasped in between giggles.

"Yeah, in dog year's maybe but right now your only 3 in human years!" They stared at each other for a few seconds before they both broke out in laughter. After they had both settled he sat down next to him. "You ready to go back now. I bet they've been going crazy looking for you."

"Yep. Can I have you phone?" He waited to be handed the phone then began to dial Jack as best he could with his chubby fingers.


	12. Chapter 12

Gwen was tired. She had been organizing things as best she could but it didn't even look like she made a dent into the pile of files she had been sorting. This was not her fault. Accidents happened and all she was guilty of was holding something in her hands. 'Since when do things go off without you pressing buttons?!' she pondered while looking down at the pile of alien tech she had compiled earlier. She had touched every single one and nothing had happened then. 'They can't blame this on me. They just can't!' She straightened herself out and made to leave only to stop short when she got to the first hallway. Thinking better of it she turned around and went back, the last thing she needed was to get lost trying to get out of there.

'What if he really is gone forever?' She wondered as she sat in Ianto's chair. 'Would Jack really be that mad? Maybe at first but then he would get over it and I could comfort him over his loss.'

"He's just a shag to Jack. He'll get over it in no time and we can take turns going to the coffee shop." She decided out loud. She wasn't going to worry about it anymore. She was going to do what was asked of her and then she would help Jack move on; but first she was going to rest. Closing her eyes she leaned back into the chair and began to take what she thought was a well deserved nap.

"Pull over up ahead. The energy spike came from somewhere in that park!" yelled Tosh from the backseat.

"Alright, everyone grab a torch and split up it will be dark soon. Can you get a more specific location than this Tosh?" Jack jumped out of the SUV and turned looking at her expectantly.

"No. Most of the energy would have dissipated by now all we can do is hope he is still within the vicinity."

"Would the energy leave a trail we can follow?"

"Sorry, Jack. The only reason we know to look here is because the rift monitoring program picked up the spike, but there is nothing left to track."

"Fine, we have to work with what we've got. Let's get a move on."

Splitting up they began their search into the park. Tosh ended up not far from where she had her lunch earlier that day. 'If I would have known, I would have never left' she thought. "Ianto?" she said out loud. He had to be there somewhere. She really hoped nothing bad had happened to him. She stopped by a large tree to turn on her torch when it occurred to her that it was that same tree where she had seen that naked little boy standing. There was something about his eyes that had seemed familiar and now she knew why. She couldn't explain what that device did to him or why but that had to have been Ianto. She was absolutely sure of it. "Jack!" She urgently spoke into her comm. "I think I know what happened to Ianto!"

"What's your location?" answered Owen.

"Is he alright Tosh? Do you see him?!" We're the first words out of Jacks mouth.

"No, he's not here but I'm positive I saw him earlier. Meet me back at the SUV!"

At a dead run, Jack was the first to arrive back. He could see Owen and Tosh making they're way to him from opposite directions. Waiting impatiently for Tosh he felt his phone vibrating. Looking at a number he did not recognize he sent it to voicemail when he saw Tosh coming to a stop in front of him.


	13. Chapter 13

"Jack, I was here earlier having lunch… and I saw a small child, naked and being carried off by a woman… I didn't realize it then but I know that was Ianto!" exclaimed Tosh in between breaths.

"A child, Tosh?" gasped Owen beside her, also fighting to catch his breath.

"Yes, a toddler no bigger than maybe 3. He was standing by a tree naked and scared. There was a woman talking to him, she picked him up and carried him away. Oh God, he was crying and screaming. He didn't want to go with her. I should have realized it was him. His eye's looked so familiar… he was so scared."

"It's alright Tosh, you couldn't have known." Jacked reached for her and gave her a reassuring hug.

Tosh detangled herself from Jack and jumped into the back of the SUV. "I need to check to see if there have been any reports of a child being found." She quickly typed away at her laptop.

Running around to the other side, Jack pulled out the wireless keyboard and began to pull up the CCTV of the area. Owen realized what Jack was doing and pulled out his phone. Within minutes he had child services on the line and was asking about all the cases that they had dealt with during the day.

"What did the woman look like Tosh?"

"She was young, maybe mid-twenties wearing jeans and a black shirt. She had blond hair but I didn't get a look at her face." She looked up from her laptop to see if Jack was having any luck. "Jack, they are no reports of lost or found children with the police."

"It will take all night to go through the CCTV. I'm not seeing anyone with that description."

"It's a large park, Jack. I don't think all the surrounding area has CCTV." She saw some of the hope start to fall from his face and she gripped his hand. "We'll find him Jack."

"No luck with child services. They seem to have had a slow day." Owen told them while putting his phone away.

Staring at Owens phone, Jack remembered the call from earlier he had sent to voicemail. Reaching for his phone, he listened to the message that was left. _'Jack. is me Anto! Pick up you phone!" _He immediately dialed the number back.

"He don pick up." Ianto told Andy as he looked down at the phone with disappointment.

"Yeah, but you left a message. You can try again in a bit." Andy reached over to a bag he had brought with him and handed it to Ianto. "I got you some clothes. I guessed the size but I think they should fit."

Stunned, Ianto accepted the bag and began to pull out its content. There was a pair of blue jeans, under garments, shoes and a t-shirt with the Newport Gwent Dragons insignia. He looked up in surprise at Andy, who had a sheepish look on his face. Andy knew that was Ianto's favorite rugby team. Ianto walked over and gave him a hug. "Thank you. I din know they make small ones."

"It's no big deal. It was just there and I couldn't resist." He smiled as Ianto struggled to put on his clothes. "Here let me help. I promise to forget I ever did this when you're back to normal." He stopped helping Ianto with his shoes when he realized what he had just said. He really didn't feel like loosing his memories but he knew that was a big part of what Ianto did when he helped him out.

Noticing Andy's sudden unease he stopped struggling with his shirt. "Is ok, I won let 'em make you foget."

"Thanks. Ok now you're decent. Do you want me to take you anywhere?"

"Minninium cent'r"

"You want to go to the Millennium Center? Why on earth would you want to go there?" He questioned him only to receive a serious pout. "Alright then, no need to get dramatic lets get a move on." When they got to the stairs Andy picked him up then put him down when they got to the street. He lived a good 10 minute walk from the center but with Ianto's condition it would probably take them 20 so he scooped him up again and continued on their way. Ianto began asking about the last rugby match wanting a distraction from the embarrassment of having to be carried. As Andy began to tell him excitedly about the Dragons last victory, Ianto realized how good Andy's company made him feel. Andy was definitely a good friend and someday he would make an excellent father.


	14. Chapter 14

...

**A/N: A Beta has adopted me over on LJ (enkanowen) so all around improvements to the fic are do to her. I like to post chapters as soon as they are written here, but if you want a more organized clean and shiny version of this fic then head over to my LJ where this story is set up as 4 chapters so far. The wait to read the new chapters there is longer but you get a nice beta'd versison. **

**Also would like to add a BIG thank you to those of you that have left reviews. They really motivated me specially in the beginning when I was so unsure of my writting. There are a few of you that consistently review each chapter and I thank you for that :)**

**...**

Halfway to the center, Andy's phone began to ring. "Hello, Andy speaking."

"Andy?" gasped a shocked Jack. "Is Ianto with you? Where are you? Is he alright?"

Owen and Tosh looked at each other in surprise.

"Slow down Jack! Yes, he's right here with me. We're walking to the Millennium Center; we are about half way there." Looking at Ianto he handed him the phone. "Here you speak to him, maybe that will calm him down." Andy was beginning to feel a bit guilty for having Ianto hide out with him. Jack really seemed worried.

"Jack, am ok." Ianto spoke into the phone. He was also feeling a bit guilty for making Jack worry.

"Ianto, is that really you?"

"Yep, we walkin' to Minninium Cent'r we meet you ouside."

"We were out looking for you. We're heading back right now. Meet us at the lift." He told him. Owen was behind the wheel breaking the speed limit. They would be there in no time. "Ianto, I…" He couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence. "I'll see you in a bit."

Andy and Ianto were standing in front of the lift when the SUV pulled up on the curb. When Ianto spotted it, he immediately squirmed out of Andy's arms and ran towards it only to trip and fall halfway there. Jack jumped out of the passenger seat and ran to him. He got down to his knees and pulled him into a fierce hug. "Are you alright? Did you hurt yourself?" He asked holding him at arms length to look at him. It was Ianto; he had no doubt about it. He never looked so adorable with his big teary blue eyes and rebellious hair. Looking at the Rugby shirt he was wearing he quirked an eyebrow and looked up at Andy.

"What? He was naked. I had to make him decent." Andy shifted from foot to foot. "Well I'll leave you to it. Ianto call me if you need anything, mate. Oh and that woman from the park will probably be calling the station to ask about you."

"We'll take care of it, Andy." Scooping Ianto up into his arms Jack extended his hand out to Andy. "Thanks for all your help." They shook hands before Andy squeezed Ianto's shoulder and left. Andy began to walk back to his flat. He was used dealing with Torchwood's 'spooky dos' as he liked to call them, but never had he seen a member of their team affected by something. Maybe their job was more dangerous than he had previously suspected. He really liked Ianto and hoped that he would return to his normal self, he was a decent bloke and the only one of the bunch that didn't walk around like they were above everyone. Enough thinking about Torchwood, he decided. He was going to get himself a well deserved beer, some take away and try to forget the day in front of the television.

Once they were all back in the hub Jack called out for Owen. He wanted Ianto checked from head to little toes.

"Can you give me a moment with him first?" asked Tosh.

Looking down at Ianto and getting a nod in return he handed Ianto over to Tosh. Holding him close to her, she walked over to her station and sat down placing him on her lap.

"I was really worried about you." started Tosh, looking him straight in the eyes. "I saw you in the park, but I didn't recognize you. I'm so sorry Ianto."

"Is ok, I was safe wif Andy."

"So you were with him the whole afternoon, after that woman handed you over?"

Unable to look straight at her he nodded focusing on the buttons of her blouse. He didn't consider how him missing would also affect Tosh. He wanted the others to miss him because they did take him for granted at times, but not Tosh. She was his friend and she didn't deserve that. Tosh smiled down at him. She had wondered about the lapse of time he had gone missing and the lack of communication.

"Next time you want to stay away for a while just send me a message or something. So I won't go out of my mind looking for you."

Looking up and catching the soft smile on her lips he smiled right back. "I pomise. I'm sowy."

She tugged him up into a tight hug then stood up with him. "Let's get you checked out now."

Just as she turned to go to the med bay Jack walked up and took Ianto from her arms. He had been waiting at a distance for them to finish talking. "I'll take him from here Tosh." With a smile Tosh handed him over and headed back to her work station.

Owen met Jack at the top of med bay stairs. "Come on tea boy. You know that name is no longer fitting I think I may have to call you tea-baby now. Let's get you checked out." He said reaching out to take him from Jacks arms. "Ouch! Did he just bite me?"

"You deserved it." called out Tosh from her work station. "Are these the files you pulled from the archives?"

"Yeah, those are all I found. I'm not going near him again if he's going to bite me, Jack."

"Tosh is right, you deserved it. I'll take him to the med bay." He looked down at Ianto before adding "Can you not bite him for at least an hour, kiddo?"

"Kiddo?" Ianto asked with a quirked eyebrow and amusement in his eyes.

"Hey, look at you. You're adorable. Can't I call you kiddo?" Jack pleaded.

"Fine, but you stay wif me. P'ease?" looking down at him Jack knew he was in trouble. How could he ever say no to anything he could possibly ask of him? It was bad enough he could never say no to the adult version, but add that baby face and he was done for. He sat him down on the examination table and stood next to him while Owen ran a full range of tests on him.

"Everything seems normal and the age scan puts him at 28 months. You are nearly two and half, tea-baby!" Owen told him as he printed out his results. Ianto ignored him and cuddled into Jacks side. Looking down at Ianto's tired figure slumped on jack side he addressed Jack with a serious expression "Physically he's a normal healthy toddler. The only anomaly I see is his brain patterns are off the charts. That could be caused by his toddler brain trying to cope with Ianto's adult mind. We'll have to keep an eye on him. If his brain continues this way he could suffer a seizure; but if the brain patterns normalize I have a feeling we will loose Ianto and be left with left with a much disoriented toddler with no sense of who he is."

"Good to know. Come on kiddo, it's time for a team meeting." He picked up a sleepy looking Ianto. "Tosh meet us at the conference room with anything you've got so far." He spoke into his comm. "Owen, go get Gwen and meet us there." He didn't really want to deal with the police woman but at least she hadn't caused anything more severe. Ianto was alive and safe in his arms, even if it was a tiny version of him.


	15. Chapter 15

Owen found Gwen lightly snoring in Ianto's chair. He hadn't been that far into the archives in years. Looking around, aside from the mess of boxes on the floor the place looked clean and organized. Ianto really did take good care of the place. The last time he ventured this far down was in his first year in Torchwood. He could recall getting lost in the damp, dusty archives that looked like nothing had been touched in years. He could remember walking into a nasty spider web and making the decision that anything that could form a spider web that big was something he did not want to encounter. He had not been down in the archives again without his archive safety kit which consisted of a torch, a pocket knife and a large can of bug spray.

"Wake up PC Cooper!" Owen yelled while slamming his palms on the desk.

Gwen leapt up from her chair startled. She was in the middle of salacious dream with her favorite captain. "Owen! You bastard! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

Owen laughed at the indignant look on his ex-lover's face. He loved getting her riled up. It was his way of getting back at her for fantasizing about another man while in his bed. He was a good lay and anyone in his bed should be focused solely on him not fantasizing about long coats and roof tops. He wasn't stupid and she was too obvious.

"Jack wants us in the conference room for a team meeting. Lucky for you we found Ianto."

"You did? Is he alright?" she said with slight disappointment in her tone, looks like she wasn't going to get to comfort her captain after all. It was wrong of her to want Ianto gone but she just couldn't help it. She had almost been killed by his cyber-girlfriend and she just knew if he wasn't in the picture, Jack would be in her bed. It was just beyond her comprehension how Jack could have forgiven his betrayal so quickly. Hiding his cyber-girlfriend in the basement had almost brought about a full scale cyber-man invasion and nearly killed them all. He should have at least left Torchwood with his tail between his legs. Jack deserved better than him.

"He's as well as can be expected considering what he's been through. Did you organize those files on the floor in any recognizable order?"

"I put them in alphabetical order, why?"

"I want to know if there is anymore information we can use on the device that affected Ianto." Bending down he sifted through the pile and picked up all the files related to the Argolin, which weren't many. He tucked the files under his arm he headed to the conference room with Gwen in toe.

When they reached the conference room the rest of the team was sitting there waiting for them. Gwen searched around for Ianto until her eyes fell on the child in Jacks arms. Walking straight up to them, she went to cuddle him. "Who's this?"

"Watch it Gwen, he bites." Owen answered her while rubbing his hand.

She almost pulled her hand back, but then thought it a perfect chance to show Jack just how great she was with kids. "Oh he can't be that bad." She said as she ruffled his hair.

Ianto hid further into Jack's arms hiding his face in the crook of his neck. He didn't feel like being coddled by Gwen. It was her fault he was now a child and as such he was going to act his age and not be civil with her or give her a minute of his time.

"Ianto doesn't like his hair being messed with; I should know, I remember this one time...ugh!" Jack rubbed his side where Ianto had hit him.

Staring at the exchange, the words began to sink in and Gwen gasped, "Oh, poor Ianto! It turned you into a baby? Is it permanent?"

"We're trying to figure out how to reverse it." Tosh answered her. Gwen took a seat at the far end while Tosh continued. "If we can get started, the database came up with a basic profile of the Argolin. They are humanoid in appearance with extraordinarily long life cycles. According to one of the files Owen pulled, they are unable to reproduce as consequence of nuclear warfare before their world was transformed into a pleasure planet."

"So the device could be a form of staying immortal then?" Owen asked at no one in particular.

"With this type of advance technology I don't think that's quite it. If they wanted to be immortal I'm sure they could have found a way. Imagine if you could never have children and you knew that your species would eventually die out. By reversing themselves into child form they could form family units while maintaining the species."

"You're a genius Tosh!" Jack praised her. "Now how do we reverse it?"

"I'm sorry but there was no information on the device."

"I found these downstairs. They're from Torchwood Two on the Argolin but I haven't had a chance to go through them yet." Owen pushed half the files over to Tosh. "There has to be something in there."

"How about physically, how did the examination go?" Tosh asked Ianto directly. She didn't want him to feel excluded. Ianto looked up from playing with one of Jack's cufflinks and smiled at her gratefully.

"I haf too many bwainwaves." He answered before yawning and cuddling back into Jack again. He didn't know what time it was but he was exhausted.

"Everything else seems normal for a toddler, but I'm concerned about his brain activity. Worst case scenario we're looking at severe headaches, seizures and loss of consciousness. However at least he will still be Ianto. If his brainwaves normalize to that of a healthy toddler then I'm afraid we may loose Ianto and be left with a toddler with no knowledge of his identity." Owen looked somberly over at Ianto who yawned once again.

"It's late. Let's all get some rest and continue early tomorrow." Picking Ianto up and heading towards his office, Jack left no room for argument as he sent them all home.

"Jack?" Gwen called out, walking after him. "If you want I can stay and help you with him."

"You've helped enough, Gwen. Go home." Jack ordered. Gwen walked away looking extremely put out and grabbed her things before heading out behind Owen.

"Tosh, could you hold on a second?" Dropping her purse back on her chair she walked over to Jack.

"Can you buy Ianto some more clothes before you come in tomorrow?"

"Sure! Do you need anything else in particular, another rugby shirt perhaps?" She teased a very sleepy Ianto, who smiled back at her.

"Yep!" He answered before reaching out to give her a hug.

Kissing him goodnight, Tosh grabbed her hand bag and left for home. She knew she probably wouldn't be getting too much sleep. Her brain was just too busy trying to think of ways to make things right.

"Just you and me left now kiddo." Jack hugged Ianto closer to himself "Time for bed." He walked over to his manhole and descended down the ladder as carefully as he could with Ianto in his arms. Setting Ianto down on his bunk, he removed his shoes and tucked him in. "Ianto, I… I'm glad you're safe." He said as he sat beside him. "Get some rest. We'll talk tomorrow."

Getting up from the bed he went and sat in the arm chair across the room. Turning off the main light and only leaving a small lamp on, he made himself comfortable for the night. He dosed off for a few hours only to wake up in the middle of the night to find Ianto asleep on his lap. Picking him up, he headed back to the bunk and fell asleep holding him close.

Jack awoke the next morning to the sound of running water. Minutes later Ianto walked out of the shower engulfed in one of his under shirts and toweling his dry his wet hair.

"Good morning." Jack sighed as he stretched.

"Good monin' I'm hungy, Jack."

"Give me a minute to get dressed and…" Jack jumped to his feet and grabbed Ianto, who had been trying to make his way up the ladder but slipped on the long shirt. "What are you doing? You're going to get hurt!"

"I wan sum coffee." He replied with big watery blue eyes.

"You can't have coffee. You're currently a toddler in case you've forgotten and how exactly we're you going to get that coffee? The counter is high and you could burn yourself."

"I can do it!" replied Ianto who rubbed dry his eyes, trying to fight away the tears. Jack had never used that tone of voice with him before. He had heard Jack angry, happy, lustful, and even annoyed but he had never heard Jack concerned or scared. He felt thoroughly guilty and chastised.

"No you can't. I'm not going to risk you getting hurt. Its bad enough you were missing all day yesterday. You didn't even bother to let us know where you were the minute you could. I thought you were dead! I thought I had lost you! I won't see you get hurt, not while I'm around, damn it!"

The concern that had to anger quickly disappeared when he heard Ianto sniffling into his shoulder.

"Oh God, Ianto I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell." He held him tightly until he suddenly felt Ianto begin to shake. Looking down he saw Ianto was in the middle of a full blown seizure.


	16. Chapter 16

Getting molested by a squid looking alien with tentacles was not Owen Harper's idea of a wet dream. Therefore when at 6 am he was woken up by the incessant ringing of his cell phone, he was rather relieved. "Hello."

"Owen! Get your ass over here, Ianto's having a seizure!" yelled Jack frantically at him.

"I'm on my way." Owen responded while jumping out of his bed and grabbing his discarded jeans from the floor. Hanging up, he ran for the door while pulling on his shirt and his shoes.

Jack watched over Ianto with concern. He had laid him down on the examination table and was waiting for the second seizure that had hit him to pass. Two seizures in ten minutes was definitely not a good thing. Even more worrying was the fact that in between the seizures Ianto had not regained consciousness.

It took Owen a record ten minutes to make it to the hub. Under normal circumstances it was more than a half hour commute. "Jack!" He yelled when he entered the hub.

"In here!" Jack called out from the med bay.

"When did it start? How many has he had?"

"He's had two so far, started about twenty minutes ago. He won't wake up, Owen!"

"Alright Jack; let me take care of him now. I called Tosh on the way here. She's going to get started on going over the files from Torchwood Two." Owen began to hook Ianto up to different machines. Some to measure vital signs others running scans simultaneously. He was never happier to have alien tech when it came to dealing with a real patient. The type of things he could accomplish in a few minutes here at Torchwood would have taken hours in a regular hospital.

Jack stood by silently as Owen went about his work. He really didn't want to be in the way but he would do anything to at least hold Ianto's hand.

"If I let you sit with him will you stop pouting like I a five year old whose teddy bear has been stolen?"

Moving back close to Ianto, he held his hand. "Thank you Owen, for everything."

"Just doing my job, Jack." Owen answered while looking at his printouts. "We can't loose our tea boy, who's going to make me coffee and clean up after me?"

"I luv you too Ow'n" they both turned to look at Ianto who was attempting to get up. Holding him down by the shoulders Jack held him in place.

"None of that now, you need to rest."

"Good morning. Ianto how are you feeling?" Tosh asked as she entered the room. Ianto responded with a soft smile and nuzzled into Jacks hand that was closest. "I brought you some clothes I picked up last night. Is everything alright?" She asked, directing her question to Owen.

"It's like I feared I'm afraid. I'm going to get him started on a diazepam drip, that should stop the seizures for now, but I don't really think that will help for long. The strain is just too much for his brain."

"Just do what you can Owen."


	17. Chapter 17

Jack remained by Ianto's side for most of the day. Not wanting to go to far if something was to go wrong. After several hours of no signs of any seizure, what ever hope the time had given him was lost when Ianto lost consciousness in the middle of sentence.

"Owen! What just happened?" Jack yelled.

The young medic who had been going through his stack of Torchwood Two files nearby dropped everything and checked Ianto's vital signs.

"His brain waives are going down, but so are his vitals. He's going into a coma. I think we're loosing Ianto." He looked down and at Ianto with a sullen face. He remembered his rough childhood; he would hate to have to live through that again. Maybe they would be able to find him a good home. A loving family so he could have a normal life, away from Torchwood.

"I think I figured it out!" screamed Tosh as she ran into the med bay. "What happened?" She asked, stopping at the sight of Ianto unconscious and Owens serious face.

"Did you figure out the device!" asked Jack urgently as he ignored her concern. "What did you find?"

Glancing worriedly at Ianto, Tosh began to explain her findings. "There are no instructions on how to use the device itself but it does describe what it does. Apparently Torchwood Two had something similar occur to one of their agents. According to them the device sends an energy wave that first reversed the agent to toddler age. He was a toddler for five hours then when he came into contact with the device a second time he lost all of his memories. Since Ianto hasn't come in direct contact it hasn't taken his memories completely yet, but since he has been in the hub now for a while I think the device is still working only slowly."

"So that device began to transmit energy again when we brought him back to the hub?" asked Jack at the end of her explanation.

"Yes, it began when he came down the lift."

"What happened to the agent?" asked Owen.

"He was placed in a foster home." Tosh replied glancing over at Ianto. She didn't know what Jack would do but she didn't want Ianto to end up with strangers. "Six years ago he turned up at their door step when his memories of Torchwood began to return to him. According to his interview, he had gotten a delivery job and every time he made a delivery near them he was flooded with memories."

"So is it safe to say that the proximity to the device in adulthood began to return his memories? I suppose if he would have been exposed to the device directly all of his memories would have been returned in one go." thought Owen out loud.

"Those were Torchwoods Two's conclusions as well." Tosh responded back. "If we can find a way to return Ianto to adulthood then the device itself will return his memories. If we can't then…" she looked away unable to meet Jack's eyes.

"He will have to take the long route." Owen finished for her. "We're going to have to find him a home."

"No." snapped Jack.


	18. Chapter 18

"He's a child, Jack. He can't stay in the hub. I have a contact at child services; we can find him a nice home, with stable environment for him to grow up in, again." Owen tried smoothing the idea over him. "Besides, it may only be temporary until we find a way to reverse this whole thing."

"I said no. Ianto is my responsibility. He's staying with me." Jack responded to him with a tone leaving no room for argument.

"Jack, he can't stay in hub. It's not safe." Tosh added timidly.

"I'll be staying at Ianto's flat from now on. There will a rota for watching the hub over night and a rota for watching Ianto when it's my turn to be in here." He began to explain.

"This job is not meant for people who want to raise children…" started Owen.

"I'm not handing him over to strangers Owen!" Jack yelled at him, interrupting half way through his sentence.

"Let me finish. It won't be just you raising him; you can count us to help. Right, Tosh?" Owen finished.

Following the conversation back and forth she happily agreed. "Yes, of course. We will all raise him together. We all care about him Jack. Let us help."

Jack nodded; he knew he would need help. Taking care of Ianto in the event they could not cure him would be a team effort. "Thank you."

"Alright, enough of the dramatics we sound like a bloody soap opera, I think my balls may have shrunk." Owen quipped while he walked back to check on Ianto.

Jack chuckled and Tosh giggled at his sudden outburst. After sobering up a little Jack instructed Tosh to bring the device to the med bay. Owen had agreed with him on letting the device complete the second stage as soon as possible.

Once the device was brought in, Ianto's vitals normalized and his brain waives went to being that of a normal toddler. "Its done." stated Owen. "He should wake up in a few hours. I'll be upstairs helping Tosh."

Jack sat by Ianto's side, holding his small hand, watching the minutes tick by waiting for him to wake up. He heard foot steps coming toward the med bay, not heavy enough to be Owens but without the clicking of heels typical of Tosh he knew who it was approaching. He attempted to calm himself when an unreasonable amount of anger threatened to take over him. He couldn't blame Gwen for what happened. Yes, she was deep down in the archives when she wasn't supposed to and yes, she did grab tech after she was specifically told not to touch anything she did not know the function of; he stopped, knowing his line of thinking wasn't helping. They had all made mistakes in their career with Torchwood, it was inevitable and part of the job.

"Jack?" Gwen asked gently. "How is he?"

"He hasn't woken up yet. Have Tosh and Owen filled you in?" he asked flatly.

"Yes. Jack, I really am sorry for what's happened. It's all my fault." She answered in a low voice. "Rhys, he's really good with kids. We can take him if you'd like, or I could just come over and help you out in the evenings."

"Did they explain about the rota?" he answered waiting until she nodded and then continued. "Then when it's your turn you will help, that's enough."

"Alright, do you need me to do anything?" she asked.

"Keep looking for more information on the Argolin. Then assist Owen and Tosh with anything that they might need." Jack answered his dismissal clear in his tone.

He sighed and his shoulder slumped as she left the room. It was exhausting sometimes to be Captain Jack Harkness, the leader and face of Torchwood Three. Beneath the bravado and super hero persona, behind all the flirting and the charisma was a man who was over a hundred years old, weary of life and tired of loosing people he cared about.

Toshiko Sato had never met a puzzle she couldn't solve. She was tenacious and once she set her mind on solving one she didn't quit until it was done, regardless of how long it took. Add to that the fact that this was personal and affecting the closest thing she had to a best friend, then that device had no chance. She would not give up, no matter what. She sat back remembering the last night her and Ianto had spent together. They had picked up some Thai food before heading to her place. They had made it a point to spend at least one night out of the week together. Sometimes they would go see a movie and have dinner, always choosing a movie or a restaurant outside of their norm, pushing each other to experience new things. On other nights they would stay in and play board games that would be easy for a child to play but they would add extra rules or limitations to make it specifically challenging and all the more fun.

That night the board games were never pulled out. Instead once they had finished their meal they had spent the rest of the evening talking and getting out their frustrations.

"_I just wanted something nice outside of Torchwood. I wanted to be special to someone." She finished in a whisper._

"_I'm sorry I wasn't there for you then. You helped me so much after Lisa; I shouldn't have let our friendship slide." Ianto responded gently holding her hand._

"_No need to apologize. I was wallowing in self pity and let myself get swept away. It was a weak moment and I have always been a sucker for a nice smile and gorgeous eyes." They both smiled at that. "Talk about nice smiles and gorgeous eyes. How's the captain treating you?" _

_Ianto nearly chocked on his tea and coughed to regain his composure. "What are you talking about?"_

"_Ianto, I know you two were shagging before… well you know. I deleted enough CCTV to cover for the both of you back then. Lately you both seem relaxed around each other again; the flirting is back and stronger than ever but more than that I notice the way he looks at you when he thinks no one can tell. Or the way his hand lingers when he hands you things." She looked at his blushing face waiting for a response._

"_I was hoping we were being more discreet than that." He sighed. _

"_Have you talked about what happened?" She asked._

"_I tried to but he said actions speak louder than words and that was the end of it. That night was more than just sex. It was like he was making love to me and telling me so many things with every kiss and every touch" he seemed to realize what he had said and blushed profusely. _

"_I'm happy for you, Ianto. You deserve to be loved." she stated sincerely._

"_So do you." He responded before pulling her into a fierce hug._


	19. Chapter 19

"I'm happy for you, Ianto. You deserve to be loved." she stated sincerely.

"So do you." He responded before pulling her into a fierce hug.

Coming out of her thoughts she decided to pay Ianto a visit. What she walked in on almost broke her heart. Jack was sitting in a chair next to the small boy, caressing his hair and whispering softly to him. His eyes were red rimmed and the sadness seemed to weigh the older man down. At that moment she knew she had been right. As stubborn as both Ianto and Jack were about not vocalizing their feelings, it was obvious that love was there and it was mutual.

"I should have told you everyday. I'm sorry. I'm just stubborn and set in my ways. I've lost so many people I've loved that after a while it's just easier to keep everyone at arms length." Jack whispered softly. "I was pretty good at it too, but then you had to go and catch me when I fell. You should have let Myfanwy drop me on the floor. Then I wouldn't have felt my heart skip a beat for the first time in so many damn years."

Leaning close to the child's ear he let his last words fall from his lips. "Now you're just a child, and I have to lock my heart away again. Someday Ianto Jones you will realize that you're the only one with a key." He wiped a stray tear and looked up to see Tosh staring at him with fresh tears staining her cheeks. He had heard her approach but he knew Tosh hadn't heard anything she didn't already know.

"Are there any new developments?" He asked.

"I'm imputing all of the characters from every Argolin device we have into the translation program. Gwen and Owen are getting them now." She hesitated a moment before she made up her mind on her next words. "I'm going to make things right Jack. I swear it, but when I do it better not have been for nothing. You will tell him and show him how you feel about him or I swear I will make you suffer!" She waived her small fist at him in anger.

Jack couldn't help himself; he raised his hands up in surrender and suppressed a smile. At that moment he was equal parts terrified of the small woman and in love with her for caring so much for Ianto. He had no doubt in his mind that she was clever and creative enough to be true to her word.

"I swear to you Tosh, Ianto will know." He responded then added with a small grin. "You'll be able to add to you CCTV collection as well. You know you could probably compile it into a DVD and make millions."

She thought she had covered her tracks well when she had saved some of her favorite Jack and Ianto hub moments before deleting them from the system. Blushing slightly she sighed and responded to Jack. "Oh I know I would. What makes you think I haven't already made it? It's too bad Ianto would never sign a consent form."

After a moment of looking at each other seriously they both burst into laughter. Tosh turned and headed back to her station.

"Tosh!" Jack called out before she crossed the threshold. She stopped and turned expectantly. "Make me a copy?" she smiled and nodded softly before leaving.


	20. Chapter 20

The rift did not seem to want to give them a moment of peace as the day went on. They received two reports of weevil sightings. After capturing the first weevil they received notification of a rift spike at a nearby warehouse. Jack had sent Owen and Gwen to the warehouse while he hunted the other weevil down. Tosh remained behind for tactical support and to watch over Ianto, who now stable was laying sleeping on the couch behind her station.

"Jack looks like just space junk." Tosh listened to Owen over the comm.

"Alright take it in then meet me at the garage. I've got two weevils to carry in." Jack responded.

Tosh smiled to herself. They really were a good team but it had all taken longer than it should of. They really did need Ianto. It wasn't just about getting lunch orders or cleaning up the hub. It was about cleaning up their presence all together from Cardiff. If they were still in the least bit a covert organization, it was because of Ianto. He took care of all of the details that they over looked. He did it all without complaint and was taken for granted. She had to admit that sometimes she too forgot. This was definitely a wake up call for all of them. If Ianto were able the hub would be spotless, all their reports would be finished, their desks cleared of any files, the tactical support would be covered and any witnesses of the weevils would be taken care of by lunch time.

Lost in thought she was surprised when she heard a sniffle behind her. Turning around she found Ianto sitting up on the couch and looking very much lost. His hair was sticking up in odd angles and his bottom lip was sticking out and trembling.

"Hello there sleepy head." She said softly, smiling at him. The vacant look in his eyes began to worry her a bit. She stood up to get closer to him but he shied away and curled into the sofa. "It's alright I wont hurt you."

She grabbed a the bag of things she had purchased for him and moved to chair near him waiting for him to look up at her, at that moment the perimeter alarm went off as the cog door rolled open. Ianto whimpered and hid his head stealing quick glances at the strangers coming towards him.

Jack went straight to the couch and found Ianto looking very frightened, but it was to be expected. They were all strangers to him now. He sighed and sat down on the coffee table in front of him, trying hard to look as non-threatening as possible.

"Hello Ianto." Jack whispered softly. "My name is Jack."

Ianto merely blinked at him.

"Ianto" Jack pointed at him. "Jack" he said as he pointed at himself.

"Here." Tosh said as she handed Jack a fluffy red dragon. "I bought it yesterday; I thought maybe he could use it as a pillow."

"Look what we have here for you Ianto." Jack said softly while setting the dragon on the edge of the couch. "It's your very own dragon."

"Dwagon?" He whispered looking back and forth between Jack and the dragon.

"Go on, he's all yours." Jack said while nudging the dragon closer to him. Ianto slid his arm around it and snuggled his face into the dragon's neck. He looked up at Jack and Tosh and gave them a timid smile. He sat up and rubbed the last of the tears from his eyes.

"Ta'? Mam?" He asked looking at Jack and Tosh.

Blushing at Ianto's assumption Tosh looked at Jack trying to figure out what to say. "What do we tell him Jack? He doesn't have Ianto's memories anymore but he does have the intelligence of a toddler. He doesn't know who his parents are."

"What do you say Tosh? Want to be mam for a while?" He looked up at her smiling.

Ianto looked behind Jack at Owen and Gwen standing a few feet back. "Mam? Ta'?" He questioned again at Jack now looking at Owen and Gwen.

"No bloody way kid!" Owen snapped quickly. Ianto jumped a bit at his response and feeling guilty he quickly tried to make up for it, "I'm Uncle Owen." He said pointing at himself. "Auntie Gwen." He said pointing at Gwen only to receive a dirty look from her.

"We should have thought of this ahead." sighing Jack looking behind him at his team members. Turning back around he caught Ianto's attention and pointing at Tosh and then at himself he said "Mam Tosh and Uncle Jack."

"Wait a second! Why aren't you Tad?" barked Owen.

"Think about it Owen. You can't ask Jack to be his Tad. That's cruel." Tosh told him as she came to stand in front of him, pleading with her eyes.

Looking at her for a long moment he held Tosh as hand and walked forward to the couch. "Fine let's just make this simple. Hey kid, I'm your Tad." He said pointing at himself. "This is your Mam." He said putting his arm around Tosh's shoulder. "That's Jack and that's Gwen. Got it?"

Ianto followed with his eyes to everyone he pointed to then nodded when Owen finished talking. He bit his lip and looked at Owen as if he was afraid to speak. Noting his distress Jack sat next to him on the couch and asked him what was wrong. Ianto pulled at his arm until he could whisper in his ear. Smirking up at Owen he told him his first official act as Tad was to take his son to the little boy's room. Owen sighed defeated and stepped into his role. He held his hand out and led his temporary son to relieve himself.

The three remaining adults took a seat and waited for them to return. "Thank you for that Tosh." He said looking at her with gratitude.

"Your welcome, I have a feeling the need to quickly identify your parents is part of that device's doing." She responded.

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Jack?" asked Gwen. "Maybe a foster home might have been better."

"A foster home where some poor couple gets attached to him only for us to take him away when we find a cure? Is that what you want?" Tosh asked.

"We don't know if we will reverse this. We could find him a nice home." She pleaded.

"He has a home and that's with us." Jack replied shortly.

"What about that Rota you were talking about. Its pointless now if he thinks Owen and Tosh are his parents. He should be living with them."

"Well not everything will be perfect. Ianto has a spare bedroom. That will be his room and we will take turns staying there with him." He looked at both of them. Both Tosh and Gwen nodded their agreement as they heard Owen walking back with a giggling Ianto.

The front of Owens shirt and crotch was soaked and Ianto was giggling at Owens cursing.

"Owen!" Tosh yelled at one of his particularly rude remarks.

"What! He decided I needed to wash my hands too only he missed my hands when he splashed me." He huffed.


	21. Chapter 21

The weeks ahead went by in a blur. With each team member taking turns caring for Ianto. He was even enrolled at a local pre-school and a nanny was hired to care for him during the days the rift required all of them to be at the hub. They settled into a rather efficient routine, as much as the rift would allow. Jack devoted all his free time to Ianto. All learned quickly that his quiet observant exterior as an adult was most definitely a very controlled cover, as they now experienced the endless amount of energy that the toddler seemed to exude and his endless curiosity about everything. He liked to be challenged picking apart toys and easily completing all the puzzles he was given, leaving no doubt of his intelligence.

What surprised them all the most was Ianto's smile. He laughed, giggled and always wore a smile on his face. He was never fussy, only pouted and shed silent tears when he was upset.

"I've got to say I thought this whole kid thing would be a lot harder." Owen told Tosh who was currently in the kitchen preparing the three of them dinner. It was her turn to stay with Ianto for the night and she had invited Owen over for dinner.

"Well I don't have an abundance of experience with children but I can tell you from what I do know that Ianto is special." She answered from the kitchen. "I've given him a few assessment tests from the primary school and he's roughly at 2nd grade level. That's genius for a child his age. It's scary how fast he picks up information."

"If he's a bloody genius then why is he our tea boy? I mean yeah, he used us to try and save his cyber girlfriend but he was only a junior researcher in London."

"Think about it Owen. If he's this smart as a toddler we have no idea what he was really capable of as an adult. He could have easily hacked into his file and changed it before Jack accessed it." Tosh concluded pulling out plates and setting them on the table. "For all we know, he could have been head of research and development."

Owen sat quietly thinking. He was sitting in a dinning room chair watching Ianto on the sofa with a Rubik's cube in his chubby fingers and listening to Tosh in the kitchen. "Do you think you could find his original file? What if he was just an average guy and that device made him smarter?"

"Then you're not a very good doctor." Tosh smiled as she poured the pasta into the plates. "You tested him and you said there were no changes done to his DNA. He's the exact same Ianto only a lot smaller."

"I am a good doctor and I was only speculating." He bristled. "It's just hard to believe that with his probable level of intelligence he would remain with us as Jack's errand boy. Does Jack know?"

"Not yet. I haven't mentioned it. I was hoping to do some more assessments and perhaps dig into his file a bit before I said anything. I'm sure he's noticed it though. It's not everyday you see a toddler finish a puzzle designed for an 8yr old."

Calling Ianto over to them they sat down and enjoyed their home cooked meal. Tosh asked Ianto if he licked going to pre-school. "Is OK." He responded. "I don' like to color so much."

"How would you like to go to the big kid's school?" asked Owen.

Ianto stared at him with a noodle stuck to his chin "Or maybe not" Owen amended. He chuckled and wiped Ianto's mouth with a napkin.

Tosh stared at him intently "I think a private tutor would be a better idea" She said.

After they had finished dinner and cleaned up they sat watching a movie while Ianto dosed off sitting between them, ending up slumped against Owens side.

Looking over, Tosh noticed Owens arm wrap around Ianto. "Fatherhood suits you, you know."

"I always thought I would have a couple. That's was a long time ago though. Things change." Owen replied keeping his gaze fixed on the small boy slumped on his side. Tosh didn't miss the shadow that crossed his face. They all had their pasts and their secrets, she knew better than to ask.

There was a slight rattling at the door before it opened to reveal their Captain struggling to balance the shopping bags he was carrying. Seeing he was about to loose the battle, Tosh sprung to her feet to take a few off his arms.

"Thanks, Tosh!" He exclaimed loudly before getting hushed by the other two. "Oh, sorry" He whispered.

"We just had dinner; he fell asleep while we were watching The Lion King" Tosh explained while walking back towards the sofa and placing the bags on the coffee table.

"Ah, you're introducing him to the classics then."

"He cajoled me into a James Bond marathon a few months back. This is pay back." She smirked at him before sitting down again and he responded with a knowing smile.

"Hakuna Matata…"

"Stop right there Harkness! Its bad enough I've sat through an hour of it, don't make me hurt you. Besides, never took you for the Disney type. Do you have glass slippers in your closet as well?" said Owen.

"No glass slippers, but I do have some four inch fuck me pumps that you would look great in Owen."

"Not interested. What you do or wear on your free time is none of my business." Owen responded. "What color did you say they were?"

Jack burst into laughter shortly followed by Owen. Tosh stood watching them trying to control her giggling at the image of Owen in said heels.

"So what did you buy?" Tosh asked after her giggles subsided.

"See for yourself." Jack responded. She started to go through the bags one at a time.

"I'll put him in bed." Owen scooped Ianto into his arms and walked towards the former guest room.

Jack's eyes followed him until he disappeared into the room. He had changed. The small little boy that was now Ianto had changed all of them, but none as much as their medic. The hard edges of his personality were considerably dulled. There was genuine affection for little Ianto and he could see, even though the medic was yet to act on it, strong feelings for Tosh. When ever it was either of their turn to watch over Ianto, they always ended up doing it together. Owens excuse being that they needed to maintain the family atmosphere for Ianto. However having observed the medic the past few weeks he knew that Ianto was not the only reason.


End file.
